Social Media, Resume and More: Terms Never To Use

It might be your Linkedin profile or the "About Me" page on your blog. It could be your resume, or perhaps it's your cover letter. Wherever you're presenting yourself for a job or developing new business, there are certain terms you should never use, reports Julie Steinberg on Fins Finance.

That's because those particular terms communicate nothing that differentiates you from the competition and they don't help you to build that brand called "you." Every word, on every bit of your promotional material, should be a workhorse pulling for you. If it's not performing that role, then it's putting your application in danger. That's because employers, customers, clients, and prospects don't have the time to slug through language that says little to nothing.

What are some examples?

Take the term "extensive experience," for example. To redeem such a term, your first stem should be to make it more specific and quantified, such as "15 years strategic planning for manufacturing organizations with revenues in excess of $5 billion." Second, it should be linked with results such as "helped teams increase productivity an average of 43 percent and revenues an average of 24 percent."

Another such empty term is "problem solver." Instead try specifying a role: "As corporate efficiency expert, turned around organization suffering losses of $3 billion." Then briefly describe results produced in that role. For instance, you might point out that "within 18 months, through cost control and introduction of new products, revenue was increased by 189 percent and profit of by 5 percent."

Wondering what other terms you ought to never use? Here are some more:

• Innovative
• Motivated
• Results oriented
• Dynamic
• Proven track record
• Team player
• Fast paced
• Entrepreneurial.